If you ever feel like websites have turned the simple business of rejecting tracking cookies into a labyrinthine task that involves close-reading of multiple dialog boxes, then France’s data protection agency has your back. The watchdog (CNIL) has fined Google €150 million ($170 million) and Facebook €60 million ($68 million) for making it too confusing for users to reject cookies. The companies now have three months to change their ways in France. With Facebook, CNIL notes that in… Source link
Read More »France Fines Google, Facebook for Privacy Violations
A French regulator fined Alphabet Inc.’s Google $169 million and Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook $67 million, saying the companies made it too difficult for users to reject cookies, the identifiers used to track their data. Facebook and Google required several steps to reject cookies used to track their data on YouTube, Facebook and Google, leading users to accept the technology because doing so required just one click, said… Source link
Read More »France fines Google, Facebook millions over tracking consent
LONDON — French regulators on Thursday fined Google and Facebook a total of more than 200 million euros ($226 million) for not making it as easy for people to opt out of online tracking as it is for them to accept it. The CNIL data privacy watchdog said its investigations found that while the U.S. online giants gave French users a single button to immediately accept cookies, there wasn’t an equally simple way for them to decline because “several clicks are required to refuse all… Source link
Read More »Google and Facebook Hit With Fines for Making It Difficult to Reject Cookies
Text size Google said it would change its practices following the French ruling. Ore Huiying/Bloomberg Google… Source link
Read More »To catch an insurrectionist: Facebook and Google are helping the FBI find January 6 rioters
A few days after the Capitol insurrection last January, the FBI got two tips identifying an Ohio man named Walter Messer as a participant, and both cited his social media posts about being there. To verify those tips, the FBI turned to three companies that held a large amount of damning evidence against Messer, simply as a result of his normal use of their services: AT&T, Facebook, and Google. AT&T gave the FBI Messer’s telephone number and a list of cell sites he used, including one… Source link
Read More »Facebook, Google, Apple, and others face a growing whistleblower movement
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen created an international media blitz earlier this year when she leaked tens of thousands of damning internal company documents to the Wall Street Journal and US government. Her disclosures so far have prompted public outrage and government investigations — and they’ve directed a spotlight at an increasingly powerful movement of tech workers who have been organizing to hold their companies accountable over ethical concerns ranging from workplace… Source link
Read More »EXCLUSIVE Australia puts website accused of fake journalists on register for payment by Facebook, Google
The Google and Facebook logos, the words “media, news, media” and the Australian flag are displayed in this illustration photo taken February 18, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register SYDNEY, Dec 23 (Reuters) – Australia’s ground-breaking law forcing platforms like Google and Facebook to pay local publishers for news faces an unlikely test case: a website that experts say uses fake journalist profiles that has won… Source link
Read More »Over 200 newspapers now involved in quiet lawsuits v. Google, Facebook
Newspapers all over the country have been quietly filing antitrust lawsuits against Google and Facebook for the past year, alleging the two firms monopolized the digital ad market for revenue that would otherwise go to local news. Why it matters: What started as a small-town effort to take a stand against Big Tech has turned into a national movement, with over 200 newspapers involved across dozens of states. “The intellectual framework for this developed over the last 3-4 years,” said Doug… Source link
Read More »Georgia newspapers file lawsuit against Google and Facebook
Georgia newspaper companies and their counterparts around the country have been filing antitrust civil action lawsuits against Google and Facebook for the past year, alleging the two firms have monopolized the digital advertising market, constricting revenue that would otherwise go to local news. Why it matters: What started as a small-town effort to take a stand against Big Tech has turned into a national movement, with over 200 newspapers involved across dozens of states, Axios’ Sara… Source link
Read More »Australian mining billionaire to help publishers strike content deal with Google, Facebook
Google logo and Australian flag are displayed in this illustration taken, February 18, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Register now for FREE unlimited access to reuters.com Register SYDNEY, Nov 22 (Reuters) – Australian mining billionaire Andrew Forrest’s philanthropic organisation will help 18 small news publishers in the country to negotiate collectively with Google and Facebook (FB.O) to secure licensing deals for the supply of news content. Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation on Monday said… Source link
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